Chevy Tahoe Stabilitrak Problems

Comments

Having all the same problems with my 07 Tahoe and have an appoinment thur.All my same lights stay on, jerk going into first gear, and mine idols down like its gonna die.Wondering what they said or did at the repair shop, how much did it cost you, and have u had any problems sense? VERY concerened at all of the forems here about this problem!!

Im so disscussed at all the forums on this same topic!! my 07 tahoe has the stabilitrak, traction, and ABS lights on is jerking from first gear. Have an appoinment this week but defintely thinking i will try this reboot first!! Is everything still going good or have lights come back on?

Keep us updated on your visit later this week, concerned01. If you want for us to check into anything further for you, please don't hesitate to contact us via email at socialmedia@gm.com (include your name and contact information, the last 8 digits of your VIN and mileage, and a summary of the situation). Sarah, GM Customer Service

THIS IS A GM DESIGN FLAW!THIS IS GOING TO BE MORE APPARENT IN THE COMING MONTHS AS THESE 2007-2009 MODEL YEARS START CREEPING UP ON THE 75K-85K SWEET SPOT MILEAGE.GM IS TRYING TO HIDE THE FACT THEY HAVE A PROBLEM AND HAVE A BANDAID SOLUTION.YOU CANNOT CHECK IT WITHOUT A COMPLETE TEAR DOWN OF THE MOTOR.IF YOU HAVE THE 5.3L MOTOR WITH AFM I WISH YOU LUCK.MY STORY IS BELOW:

So I would like to discuss our recent troubles with our 2007 Chevy Tahoe LT 5.3L. We were finally able to purchase our first new car, 2007 Chevy Tahoe LT, ever in October 2006 from our local dealership. We decided on the Chevy Tahoe because we have had a used Chevy Suburban and Used Chevy Tahoe prior and have had excellent experience with both of them. It was truly a wonderful experience until now.

Flash forward to October 2012. While traveling several warning lights came on &#147;Service Traction Control, Stablitrak, and Service engine&#148;. We brought it to the dealership a few times to scan for a code and they couldn&#146;t come up with anything. So now we had to wait until it was actually happening and rush it over to the dealership so they can scan for the code while it was happening. Finally it was happening enough that we were able to get it to the dealer for the scan. The scan revealed that spark plug #1 was fouled and would cause a chain reaction on all the computers to go haywire. So they did a little research and they found a GM TSB (technical service bulletin) that said replace the valve cover gasket, replace all the plugs and wires. Keep in mind these are 100K mile platinum plugs/wires and we currently have around 79000 miles on the vehicle (GM recommends replacing these items at 100K miles). So we did what we were told and $700 later we were on our merry way.

Jump forward to January 2013. Now we start hearing a clunking sound on acceleration. We bring it back to the dealer and they can&#146;t seem to find anything (of course not????). Now February the sound is more apparent and all the warning lights have come back. I decided to take the car to a friend of mine who has a local shop and specializes in foreign autos. I knew he would take the time and do the research to finally tell us what the dealer couldn&#146;t. After having the car for a week the verdict was in. GM has this fuel management system introduced on this particular 5.3L motor in 2007. It&#146;s supposed to be able to switch from 8 to 4 cylinders and back to help save on fuel (Active Fuel Management or AFM). To confirm the problem he would have to tear down the engine and check the intake valve on cylinder #1. This is when I said &#147;I&#146;m taking it back to the dealer&#148;.

Now the dealership has the car and I didn&#146;t mention that I already had it looked at. I wanted to see if they would come up with the same diagnosis. Well after a week they did. I can&#146;t believe it since the initial $700 fix 3000 miles ago in November 2012 I now have to replace the engine, WTF! Needless to say I was not a happy camper. Now the car has been out of warranty for a little over a year (which has been pointed out to me over and over again) but that&#146;s not the point. The point is we bought a brand new car so we wouldn&#146;t have any problems usually associated with used cars. A car that has less than 100K miles on it. A car that has been religiously serviced by our local Chevy Dealership. And now I&#146;m being told I have to replace the motor!

The dealership called GM. GM was quick to say they would replace the motor and cover 50% of the costs? Well whoop de doo. Why were they so quick to offer that deal? Of course they are replacing it with a genuine GM remanufactured motor with a 3 year/ 50K warranty and that&#146;s all they are willing to do. I don&#146;t expect the dealership to cover all the costs and it would be nice if I wasn&#146;t out of pocket any. Yes I know the car it out of warranty but I expect GM to back up their product. Did I mention I have purchased over $100K in new Chevy vehicles over the last several years.

So the car is no good to us. Can&#146;t drive it, sell it or trade it in. I basically have to take the deal. My estimated out of pocket will be $3K plus tax.

So I decided to call GM directly and talk to them in a kind Christian sort of way (as only I can do). I figured if they heard from the customer directly that they would be willing to at least come down a little. I know the car isn&#146;t under warranty. The results were not what I was looking for. After they gathered all the information from the dealership and me as well they will only cover 50% of the cost. I explained to them that I&#146;ve been a loyal customer, this car had less than 100K miles on it, I&#146;ve spent over $100K in Chevy cars over the last several years. Nope all they would do is 50%. I asked would they would at least reimburse me for the $700 that I already spent that was totally unnecessary? Nope only 50%. Well let&#146;s just say things went pretty much south from there.

So here is where we stand. The dealership is putting in the new motor. They are working with me to get the price down under $3K. I don&#146;t begrudge the dealership I think they did what they could do (as personally later found out with GM). I don&#146;t begrudge the lady at GM I&#146;m sure she has set parameters she has to follow and she&#146;s just a drone in the corporation. However I do begrudge GM for not standing by their product. Do the research it&#146;s all over the internet. GM has a problem with this motor and it&#146;s &#147;Active Fuel Management&#148; they know it and they will continue to have problems. Unfortunately if you do have this particular motor there&#146;s no way to check if you will have this problem or not. I will never buy a GM product again. They have lost a loyal customer over $700.

I find it pretty amazing when they want billions of our tax dollars to bail them out and I'm looking for $700 just does not compute with me.

Feel free to share this and let's set GM straight that they should stand behind their product!!!!

I'm having a similar prob with my 07 Tahoe that has 125k on it. My check engine light is blinking and the stability track needs to be serviced. It also runs ruff from idle all the way through the rpm range. Cylinder #1 has no spark and there is a push rod ticking noise that is also coming from #1. Its at the dealer now and we think its all related the flex fuel system. I had been putting E85 in the truck from time to time but I just learned that it takes 15 of driving for the ECU to recalibrate. If you shut it off before it completes the cycle. I believe it restarts the cycle all over again.

I feel your pain. Get ready for the call telling you we have to replace a valve cover and all the plugs and wires for $700. By the way this will not fix the problem. Or they will tell you that it needs a complete top end job. Or better yet a new remanufactured GM motor, yipee!

Well we have the new remanufactured motor installed.I spoke with the mechanic at the dealership and asked what exactly happened and if this was normal?He told me the rings on the piston were worn and caused the leak by which fouled the plug. The cylinder wall were scarred and the other cylinders were starting to look worn. He just shrugged his shoulders when I asked him if this was normal (that kind of says it all right there).I know Black Bear Performance offers a tune solution to turn the AFM off. I guess they started to offer this due to the rash of complaints and problems that have been associated with this. I have sent letters off to GM's upper management pleading my case. I'm not expecting much but it doesn't hurt to try.

So I'm all fixed now. The prob was with the DOD lifter and solenoids that controlled the 8 to 4 cylinder mode has now been remove and all lifters were replaced with standard LS1 ones. We also put in a LS6 cam and valve springs. I had the tuner flash out the DOD and also put in a good tune without using a Dyno. It runs better than ever now and it picked up about 50 hp.

I have been reading the posts regarding the problems with the 2007 Chevy Tahoe concerning the Stabilitrak, oil consumption and other problems. I purchased my 07 Tahoe in May 2006 and have had an unending series of problems with this vehicle and the most recent is the Stabilitrak issue. I am upset to learn that the fix for this issue is in the 3-4K range and GM refuses to take any responsibility for the issue, but I am not suprised by their response. Since this issue is so prevalent and GM will not issue a recall, I think all of us affected by this issue should file a class action suit. It is absurd to spend this kind of money on an SUV and be treated the way that GM treats their customers. This type of irresponsible behavior is what lead to the eleventh hour rescue by the tax payers. I could go on and on regarding the problems Ive had with this vehicle since purchasing it new, but I would rather concentrate on something more constructive such as the class action suit. I refuse to put another dime of my money into repairing yet another desing flaw of this vehicle. If any of you would like to work with me regarding filing a class action suit please contact me here.

So I received a phone call from GM Corporate (my letters got through). I have spoke with him several times and as of now GM is holding firm on the 50/50. They say because I accepted the deal there's nothing else they can do? I reminded him I accepted the deal because I had a useless car and it had to be fixed (holding a gun to my head).I told him right up front I'm not looking to get off without paying anything. I understand the car was out of warranty but the fact of the matter is the engine failed under 100K miles.He said there were a few more upper management people he could plead my case to. So I don't know if he's blowing smoke up my a** or he's being truthful. We'll see.

Ok, I just got off the phone with GM. They have offered 45% of the cost of new pistons and rings. I had coffee with a guy just this morning with a 2008 Avalanche that had to have the same thing done. In talking to my service advisor at the dealership(GM won't tell you anything, per their policy) they have to fix a lot of these. Apparently it is the lifter(design flaw???) that goes bad, causes a crack in the #1 piston(which lets the oil through henceforth the oil consumption) and since the #1 plug is fouled the vehicle runs rough which sends the stabilitrak/TCS lights to go crazy, also lots of compression loss, rough idling etc.

I asked him if this issue had been addressed in the newer vehicles and he said yes, that it was only for 2-3 yrs 07-09 they had these lifters in them. Anyway, our vehicle is going in next week at a cost of $1,300 to hopefully finally get fixes. The service advisor said he hasn't had any come back in after the fact.

So I got a remanufactured GM warranty motor. I wonder if they replaced the lifters with the good ones so this doesn't happen?GM paid 50% the cost of the new motor so I was out $3000. I wrote to corporate to see if they could do any better but they said because it was out of warranty that they didn't even have to pay 50% but because I was a good Chevy customer they through me a bone.GM will not issue a recall because it's not a safety issue so everyone with these effected years will just have to suck it up and deal with it.Don't you love being a beta tester?

I too own a 2008 suburban that has had errors of the stabilitrak and many issues with spark plugs and wires being replaced numerous times and oil consumption issues. Now the cylinder 1 has oil on it and the dealership is telling me I have to buy a new engine. I was informed there is a valve cover replacement bulletin out but no recall. There are known issues here and it's obvious We are the ones that need to get together to get our issues resolved.

Hi I'm definitely interested I have an 07 Tahoe I've had for 16 months it had 53,000 miles. Well I'm now having the same need a new camshaft , lifter problem vehicle only has 83000. This was supposed to be my reliable vehicle spoke with someone from GM they can't tell me how much they can help but I would have to pay the 1-2000$ for the engine breakdown that's just to see whats wrong Chevy quoted me a price of 5-6500$ even with help if it was 50% who has 5000$ to put into a car. So how do we get this started?

GM will pay up to 50% of the cost for a new remanufactured motor with a 3yr/50000 mile warranty. You should only be out of pocket $3K at most.If the dealer is telling you it will cost $1-2K to diagnose the problem they are full of sh**.GM covered all diagnosis on my vehicle and they looked through #1 spark plug to confirm the engine was trashed.If this dealer is jerks you around go to another GM dealer until you are satisfied. Also call their customer service line and they can tell the dealer what to do.Good luck.

Normally you have to speak with the BBB regarding vechicles, but this is the exact same problem recurring in the same make and model vehicle. I will speak with the West Virginia Attorney General's office in the next day or so and see what can be done since there is probably a record of incidence on file in every state.

I never filed anything with the Washington State AG office. I wonder if I should? I'm not a great believer in the BBB.

This seems to be prevalent in the 2007-2009 model years. 2007 was the first model year with the new AFM system and the lifters seem to be the main culprit. GM made a modification in late 2009 for the 2010 model year.

I'm in the process of having Black Bear Performance due a tune and eliminate the AFM on the new "remanufactured" motor we just had installed. The dealership said it should not affect the warranty.

I wonder how many people are out there with these model years who are just beginning to have these problems?

I wonder how many actually are doing their due diligence to try and get something out of GM?

GM is pretty fast to say "we'll cover 50% of the cost of a remanufactured motor". I think they know they have a problem but it maybe cheaper on a case by case basis. They must be betting on the come that most of the motors will go past 100K in miles so then they can tell people to pound sand.

Remember it's the policy of GM and dealership not to discuss this with the consumer.This may help you with the dealer:

Apparently it is the lifter(design flaw???) that goes bad, causes a crack in the #1 piston(which lets the oil through henceforth the oil consumption) and since the #1 plug is fouled the vehicle runs rough which sends the stabilitrak/TCS lights to go crazy, also lots of compression loss, rough idling etc.

Has this issue been addressed in the newer vehicles?Yes, that it was only for 2-3 yrs 07-09 they had these particular lifters in them.

I have an 07 Z-71 CREW CAB 4X4 that has 83K purchased the truck new, had the trans go out @ 40k @ 50K had to replace front wheel bearing @80K swithch for blower motor went out and now at 83K under load it blows white smoke some times and it's not a head gaskget and yes it is a 5.3 Flex fuel motor.........How do we get a class action suit started ???? I live in Ca. L.A. county .Thanks RGM.

Well GM customer service just told me they can't help me bc my vehicle has 83,000 miles I said that's not a lot of miles and had it been an 08 it wud be covered so don't imply 83,000 miles is a lot so I'm waiting to speak to a supervisor because the rep said they're not helping me at all.

My dealership was able to get the 50% for me originally and have GM pay for the diagnosis. I tried to get more but came up empty.If the dealership you are working with is unwilling to go to bat for you then go to another dealership until you find one that is willing to work for you.

I also wrote a letter to GM's corporate office's to the top the President, Chairman etc. They won't read it but there minions will and they have more pull than the drone on the phone.

Just stick to the facts. Keep it simple and to the point. Be very business like.

I can certainly understand your frustrations. While I cannot promise a different resolution at this point, I would like to review your case file. Can you send me a private message with you full name and VIN please? My email is socialmedia@gm.com "attn Crystal" in the subject header.

Well I just learned that bc I wasn't fortunate enough to buy the Tahoe new even though it only had 53,000 miles so I figured it was close to new (wit most cars able to go 200,000 miles) and even though I still paid almost 30,000 and am still paying for it then I'm out of luck. I said well owners who have bought the car new are having the same problems so it's the design not anything anybody is doing. They told me its probly not true and people lie I said well why would people waste their time lying about the same issue like no one has things to do besides make up lies on the Internet . They said they dnt think they can help and if so maybe 20-30%. That's why they needed bailout money bc they dnt stand bhnd their products flaws and have lost many a customer.

It's not the dealership who is saying this it's GM s representative. I called the dealership myself bc I was wondering what they told the rep for thm to tell me no assistance @ all bc they implied the dealership made it like it was the condition of the car. Well the service manager said all I told them was a break down needs to be done first before a positive diagnosis will be made even though they felt it was the cam n lifters. So then I talk to a supervisor who changes the story to its bc I didn't buy the car new n they may get the dealership to do 20-30% after I pay for breakdown. 20-30% on engine work on a car that had 53,000 and that still cost almost 30,000, which is a brand new terrain, Acadia as well as others. I passed those up for my Tahoe bc that's what I always wanted, but I guess to bad for me I couldn't get it brand new.